....., and then Danny and John left the stage so the music never stopped ! He and Mick then played for at least ten minutes ,and it was great stuff !Mick is always very modest about his drumming abilities, but it was fantastic the way he kept the hi -hat going ,....

Yeah, that's exactly what has stayed in my vague memory.
Wish sometimes we could turn back...

The concert was presented at Imperial College, part of the University of London by the students Union , in the heart of Londonís great Victorian Museum area- South Kensington Iíd bought the tickets days in advance from the studentís Union ,and when I went it there and said I wanted ten tickets(a lot of friends were going and handed over the money the grateful guy said ďFor that much you can have the whole Fleetwood Mac ! (an offer I should have accepted instantly !)
, This was a sit down concert., for once ! There was a theatre with a stage but not with cinema type seating -rather there were stackable chairs laid out in the hall . I think now that this is where they screened the films The Plankl and the Wild Horses of the Carmargue prior to the performance rather than what I said before (ie at the Lyceum gig )because my feeling is now that I was sitting in a chair whilst watching these films and that couldnít have been the case (for me anyway , at the Lyceum or Roundhouse )
So this is Fleetwood Mac after Peter had just left, but he was in the front row of the audience,!(talk about even more pressure! ) So the band consisted of Jeremy Spencer and Danny , Mick and Christine. they certainly did Station man, a song that I liked very much and they played better than most bands around at the time, but if youíd had the privilege of seeing them at their peak with Peter then it wasnít enough. That most of that special magic had gone! Sound levels were more audience friendly- not the post concert ear buzzing levels of the Roundhouse concerts(-but perhaps loudness is necessary for hard blues rock ) This wasnít a hard blues rock concert I donít remember Jeremy doing any Elmore James stuff I suppose we- the audience,- the fans from that era wanted it but I expect the band wisely wanted to leave it behind I suppose they did most of the stuff off Kiln House but I cannot say with certainty .
I think it was at this one that McVie warned the audience about plainclothes officers from the Chelsea drugs squad mingling with the crowd and toĒ watch outĒ! (this has reminded me that, at some concert, Peter said some thing about Marihuana, but pronouncing it as Mary dew wahnah, in his deliberately comical way , probably at the Lyceum gig ,( but obviously not at this concert though, because he was sitting in the front row!) Jeremy was, I think, wearing plimsolls and bopping around a lot to the music, but my vague recollection is that it was Christine who was announcing the songs and acting as ďfront man ď Earlier, on a sort of mezzanine level other bands were performing and one northern outfit(foolishly )
attempted Stop Messiní Round the best they could, but it was lacklustre , and made you realise why the original Fleetwood Mac were a cut above the rest.!

The concert was presented at Imperial College, part of the University of London by the students Union , in the heart of Londonís great Victorian Museum area- South Kensington Iíd bought the tickets days in advance from the studentís Union ,and when I went it there and said I wanted ten tickets(a lot of friends were going and handed over the money the grateful guy said ďFor that much you can have the whole Fleetwood Mac ! (an offer I should have accepted instantly !)
, This was a sit down concert., for once ! There was a theatre with a stage but not with cinema type seating -rather there were stackable chairs laid out in the hall . I think now that this is where they screened the films The Plankl and the Wild Horses of the Carmargue prior to the performance rather than what I said before (ie at the Lyceum gig )because my feeling is now that I was sitting in a chair whilst watching these films and that couldnít have been the case (for me anyway , at the Lyceum or Roundhouse )
So this is Fleetwood Mac after Peter had just left, but he was in the front row of the audience,!(talk about even more pressure! ) So the band consisted of Jeremy Spencer and Danny , Mick and Christine. they certainly did Station man, a song that I liked very much and they played better than most bands around at the time, but if youíd had the privilege of seeing them at their peak with Peter then it wasnít enough. That most of that special magic had gone! Sound levels were more audience friendly- not the post concert ear buzzing levels of the Roundhouse concerts(-but perhaps loudness is necessary for hard blues rock ) This wasnít a hard blues rock concert I donít remember Jeremy doing any Elmore James stuff I suppose we- the audience,- the fans from that era wanted it but I expect the band wisely wanted to leave it behind I suppose they did most of the stuff off Kiln House but I cannot say with certainty .
I think it was at this one that McVie warned the audience about plainclothes officers from the Chelsea drugs squad mingling with the crowd and toĒ watch outĒ! (this has reminded me that, at some concert, Peter said some thing about Marihuana, but pronouncing it as Mary dew wahnah, in his deliberately comical way , probably at the Lyceum gig ,( but obviously not at this concert though, because he was sitting in the front row!) Jeremy was, I think, wearing plimsolls and bopping around a lot to the music, but my vague recollection is that it was Christine who was announcing the songs and acting as ďfront man ď Earlier, on a sort of mezzanine level other bands were performing and one northern outfit(foolishly )
attempted Stop Messiní Round the best they could, but it was lacklustre , and made you realise why the original Fleetwood Mac were a cut above the rest.!

Thank you for reminiscing. I appreciate its a long time ago but I wonder whether you recall...

I'm trying to comprehend what sort of feeling the audience would have had for this gig- would there have been any booing? Obviously the setlist and musical style in general would have been much removed from what the audience would have expected of Fleetwood Mac. Indeed, do you recall whether they would have played any of PG's material? Would it have been a knowledgeable crowd?

Regarding Christine- do you remember whether her 'front man' duties stretched to any lead vocals? I'm guessing it was mainly Danny and Jeremy sharing the leads but perhaps she may have sung Get Like You Used To Be or Rather Go Blind?

Indeed, when would this gig have been? Would this have been before they left for their Autumn trip to the States? It sounds as if it might have been a low key warm up before they went to America so perhaps Christine's first ever performance as a band member.

I did a bit of research on the net last night, and I think it must have been the 4th Dec 1970 , as I found an advert for what I think must be it, in Imperial Colleges own student mag. The ad says it was from 9 to 6am (therefore all night ) and supporting were Jeremy Taylor (remember nothing of him )and Sam Apple Pie, who were perhaps the band I referred to in my initial report There was aĒ discoĒ and they were screening The Plank (which ties in with what I remember) and Candy which is a long feature film .I donít remember seeing the latter , but perhaps I did.as I did see it around that time in a cinema type environment But I doubt we stayed all night .Tickets were 30/- !!!
Which is equivalent to £1.50 (one hundred and fifty pence ) if Iím not mistaken !!!!!) Even taking 44 years of inflation into account thatís got to be value for money ?

I was a bit more formal than the other gigs Iíd seen before Peter left ,given that everyone was seated .There was certainly no booing or hostility. I think the audience was on their side, hoping it would be good, which it was -it just wasnít transcendent as it was with the last few performances I had seen which included Peter . It wasnít a low key gig, it was advertised in student magazines etc but I must have seen an ad in the Melody Maker or similar ,as I was no longer at college, having quit after a few weeks I donít think Christine did Iíd Rather Go Blind -I surely would have remembered if she had done it I don't recall her doing lead vocals ..and Iím not even sure Danny did anything like Coming your Way which he was entitled to do nor do I donít think they did any of Peterís compositions

If anyone is interested I have just posted my account of Mick Fleetwood's personal appearance at drum store in Archway (London) 1988 on the Rumours forum ,as strictly it doesn'y fall into the early years category, but for the sake of continuity I thought I'd better mention it here !

I'm wondering if anyone here saw Fleetwood Mac on any of their tours from 1971-74. And if so, what they recollect from the show(s). What did the band play? What kind of venue? What was the energy on stage like? Anything.

Many of us fans of the band have a clear picture of the what FM concerts looked and sounded like from 1975-today, and a fairly good idea of what the band was like in concert during its three-guitar army days.

But the McVie-Welch years are a mystery to me (no pun intended, seriously).

I'm wondering if anyone here saw Fleetwood Mac on any of their tours from 1971-74. And if so, what they recollect from the show(s). What did the band play? What kind of venue? What was the energy on stage like? Anything.

Anything? Anything at all?

To hear is to obey ,Oh Aleuzzi !

I think I saw them three times (Thrice !) with Bob Welch, once with Weston and the other guy I will do a post after this one about those but there wonít be much to tell !

I saw FM do a gig at Kensington Town Hall in june 1971(possibly the 11th) (as did my old nemesis Bluehorizon- hereís a link to his excellent report, but youíll have to scroll down the page a bit (http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=19109)I donít remember the town hall used as a venue so they mustíve just hired it for an unusual one off- so no formal seating - we all sat on the floor ,and I do believe I saw Mickís sister, the actress Susan Fleetwood, and some of her actor mates sitting close by . I think it was on this occasion that I noticed Mickís kit was setup on a fold out hinged plywood board ,with blocks on it to prevent the kit moving around .I think the concert had been re -scheduled, the original was called off and the band took a holiday in Greece ,and when they returned they did this concert to replace the original one. Consequently, I remember Mick playing topless and looking very skinny, but very sun tanned !
After the formal part of the concert ,there was some sort of jam in which Mick excelled himself, playing very freely and impressively- he just let rip dispensing with his normal ďless is more ďphilosophy (which is quite right for supporting other peoples songs) If youíve never seen him in this mode you might be forgiven for assuming he is a very limited, but sympathetic And/or hard shuffling drummer. But this demonstrated he was capable of much more, Purely by chance ,I was recently chatting to someone else who was there ,and who says he went to the party afterwards where he spoke, apparently, to Peter Green ,but I canít say that I saw Peter there in the audience myself They played very well- I wasnít disappointed ,but it wasnít magical ! Donít remember much about the main concert set ,but I have this vague memory that Danny looked a bit nervous all the way through Having to write these memories has made me think that ,through the filter of forty years ,what does stick in the memory is in direct relation to the charisma of the people involved, So Jeremy and Peter (not at this concert of course ), Mick and John are vivid but Danny Bob and Christine less so Iím afraid , certainly regarding this concert anyway (I donít think Bob had fully developed his front man ability at this point, or he felt inhibited about taking charge as the new(ish) member )As to what numbers they played ,well Iíd just be guessing /deducing really, as nothing particularly has stuck in my memory.

I think I saw them three times (Thrice !) with Bob Welch, once with Weston and the other guy I will do a post after this one about those but there wonít be much to tell !

I saw FM do a gig at Kensington Town Hall in june 1971(possibly the 11th) (as did my old nemesis Bluehorizon- hereís a link to his excellent report, but youíll have to scroll down the page a bit (http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=19109)I donít remember the town hall used as a venue so they mustíve just hired it for an unusual one off- so no formal seating - we all sat on the floor ,and I do believe I saw Mickís sister, the actress Susan Fleetwood, and some of her actor mates sitting close by . I think it was on this occasion that I noticed Mickís kit was setup on a fold out hinged plywood board ,with blocks on it to prevent the kit moving around .I think the concert had been re -scheduled, the original was called off and the band took a holiday in Greece ,and when they returned they did this concert to replace the original one. Consequently, I remember Mick playing topless and looking very skinny, but very sun tanned !
After the formal part of the concert ,there was some sort of jam in which Mick excelled himself, playing very freely and impressively- he just let rip dispensing with his normal ďless is more ďphilosophy (which is quite right for supporting other peoples songs) If youíve never seen him in this mode you might be forgiven for assuming he is a very limited, but sympathetic And/or hard shuffling drummer. But this demonstrated he was capable of much more, Purely by chance ,I was recently chatting to someone else who was there ,and who says he went to the party afterwards where he spoke, apparently, to Peter Green ,but I canít say that I saw Peter there in the audience myself They played very well- I wasnít disappointed ,but it wasnít magical ! Donít remember much about the main concert set ,but I have this vague memory that Danny looked a bit nervous all the way through Having to write these memories has made me think that ,through the filter of forty years ,what does stick in the memory is in direct relation to the charisma of the people involved, So Jeremy and Peter (not at this concert of course ), Mick and John are vivid but Danny Bob and Christine less so Iím afraid , certainly regarding this concert anyway (I donít think Bob had fully developed his front man ability at this point, or he felt inhibited about taking charge as the new(ish) member )As to what numbers they played ,well Iíd just be guessing /deducing really, as nothing particularly has stuck in my memory.

Thank you so much! I look forward to the other recollections as well. Interesting: your assessment is virtually identical with most people who saw a show from the band during the 71-74 period: very fine musicianship, a rewarding set, but not a lot of star-quality charisma.

I appreciate any and all first-hand memories and reminiscences of the 1970-1974 era. I've always been fascinated by that transitional time for the band. In 1977, when I became a fan of the Rumours era band, I eventually discovered their backstory, which seemed so mysterious and very confusing.

I suppose it was confusing for many new fans. After purchasing the self-titled 1975 "White" album and Rumours, they purchased the older albums, assuming they were getting more of the same. This happened with my older sister, who graduated high-school in 1977. I inherited Future Games and Mystery to Me, and became hooked. I eventually bought Bare Trees, Penguin, and Heroes Are Hard to Find.

Are there any bootlegs/recordings or confirmed set lists of their Penguin or Mystery to Me tours? I recall that the Mystery tour was aborted when it became known that Bob Weston was screwing around with Mick's wife. What a shame, because that was such a strong band configuration. There is a great TV appearance of them performing Miles Away. I also have a some murky recordings from 1974 of them performing Bad Loser and Coming Home.

I dream of an box set that exclusively features the material from Kiln House through Heroes, with extensive liner notes, photos, and unreleased audio recordings. This era somewhat gets overshadowed by their Peter Green/blues era and the Buckingham Nicks era. For a long time. Heroes was the least appealing album for me. Now I have much love for it is. Bob Welch can be an acquired taste. In hindsight, he was quite progressive. with shades of Lou Reed.

I actually heard the 5 Bob Welch era albums first and I was digging Bob's and Danny's songs (and Christine's too of course) before I had ever heard of Lindsey and Stevie. A college roommate had those 5 albums and I was getting to know them when this roommate went to the record store to buy the new White Album. This all happened in the span of a few weeks in fall of 1975 (my senior year at college).

So, although I had heard the Bob Welch records first, I never saw that configuration of the band. I had probably only listened to the White Album a half dozen times before seeing them in concert for the first time in October of 1975. My friends and I thought Lindsey was the girl and Stevie the guy before we walked into the concert!

I actually heard the 5 Bob Welch era albums first and I was digging Bob's and Danny's songs (and Christine's too of course) before I had ever heard of Lindsey and Stevie. A college roommate had those 5 albums and I was getting to know them when this roommate went to the record store to buy the new White Album. This all happened in the span of a few weeks in fall of 1975 (my senior year at college).

So, although I had heard the Bob Welch records first, I never saw that configuration of the band. I had probably only listened to the White Album a half dozen times before seeing them in concert for the first time in October of 1975. My friends and I thought Lindsey was the girl and Stevie the guy before we walked into the concert!

Wow, that puts you in a really unique (ish) position. When you become a fan of FM must have some impact on how you perceive the band as a whole and how you appreciate the music of the different eras. To have started off with 71-74 must make you feel as if that is the band.
Did you have an awareness of the pre-Bob band at the time?

Wow, that puts you in a really unique (ish) position. When you become a fan of FM must have some impact on how you perceive the band as a whole and how you appreciate the music of the different eras. To have started off with 71-74 must make you feel as if that is the band.
Did you have an awareness of the pre-Bob band at the time?

You know, I have always had a fierce love and appreciation for the five Bob Welch era albums, but I think that is because they are great albums, not just because I heard them first. I also am the kind of person who roots for an underdog, and while Lindsey and Stevie deserve accolades for their great songs, I really think Bob and Danny are woefully underrated (and that Christine's pre-1975 songs are, too). That's another reason for my love of that era of the band.

I don't specifically remember if my classmate owned any of the pre-Bob Welch albums, but I must have heard at least Kiln House, because I knew the song "Station Man" when they played it in Oct. '75. (I don't think I had ever heard "Get Like You Used To Be" before hearing it live). I don't think I knew much or anything about Peter Green yet, but I fixed that problem as soon as I started buying my own copies of the records.

Whilst going through a box of mementos I found this !( which is related to the story I posted about Mick's appearance at a drum store in london which I posted on the Rumours forum but put a link on this forum for historical continuity